Three Ways: A Principle-based DevOps Framework

In our first two articles in the DevOps track of Educational Foundations, we:

• Dispelled some DevOps misconceptions and presented our own principle-based definition of DevOps
• Presented the business case for DevOps, including the problems movements like Lean and Agile attempt to solve, as well as metrics from some of the latest research on high-performing DevOps organizations

In this article series, we’ll discuss the following three principle-based DevOps frameworks, below, as well as the common themes we can take from them to apply to your own DevOps transformation:

• The Three Ways as described in The Phoenix Project and The DevOps Handbook
• Mature capabilities in technical and management practices found in high-performing DevOps teams, based on the research presented in Accelerate
• The CALMS (Culture, Automation, Lean, Measurement, Sharing) framework for assessing DevOps

Framework #1: The Phoenix Project/DevOps Handbook’s Three Ways

If you’ve read either The Phoenix Project or The DevOps Handbook, you’ve been introduced to The Three Ways framework for DevOps:

• The First Way: Principles of Flow
• The Second Way: Principles of Feedback
• The Third Way: Principles of Continuous Learning

The First Way: Principles of Flow

The First Way is mostly concerned with accelerating the “flow” of work throughout a process. Gene Kim also refers to the First Way as Systems Thinking in his article The Three Ways: Principles Underpinning DevOps. Whether you’re calling it Flow or Systems Thinking, the principles underpinning the First Way are working toward the same end: viewing the flow of work as one continuous system (unsiloed) that can be continually refined and optimized.

Sponsorships Available

Sponsorships Available

Sponsorships Available

Some of the key principles of the First Way are:

• Making work “visible”. Unlike manufacturing processes, which are easily observable on a plant floor, the flow of software through its development lifecycle is not easily seen. Using methods such as Kanban boards (Read more...)